Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

as for me I own 2 gi's. I have never lost my gi ( but my pants dissapeared for a day!). I was in a new gi and havent washed it or shrunk it a little ( I do that with the 1 time it goes in the dryer.) and I triped the whole class! I dry my gi with teh sun!!! I like gis it soaks up my sweat and then cools me! oh by the way I passed my 4th kyu test!!!

I have two gis. One is a cheap lightweight karate gi which is great for hot and humid Florida. The other one is a judo gi.

My only complaint is that since I'm large chested finding a gi that fits is almost impossible unless I pay for a custom gi or get my tops tailored. You see, if I get it to fit my chest its so big in my shoulders that I look 300lbs. Also they usually fit too tight in my hips as well. I'm not a small woman but I don't like looking bigger than I have to. I don't like the fact that gis are usually measured for height and don't take in account width and womanly figures.

The only reasonable alternative I've found is bujin design. I've just ordered a woman's dogi and crossing my fingers that it will fit.

As to your other questions:
Have I lost a gi? nope.
Do I have any funny stories? not really.
How did I dry it? In the dryer.

Congratulations, Dallas. Anne Marie, you will love the bu jin women's top. They are so nice, the only problem is you won't want to wear you other gi's.

I own five gi's, I'm afraid...three light weight ones (great for summer and travel to seminars)and two heavy ones for winter. Since I usually go to class every day I like to have enough so I only have to do wash every two or three days--- especially at seminars (I need one for each session). Oh, I dry them in the dryer.

I guess the only funny thing I can think of is when I was wearing the thick (i.e. Male style---to fit length, you could literally put three of me inside) gi. I wear my belt low (for a female) so if it is pulled up to my waist it is quite loose. I was working with one of our instructors, and as he grabbed my shoulders from behind he pulled my top right off of me. He quickly regained his advantage by moving forward and wrapping the top around me like a straight jacket. Pinning me quickly to the ground, he pulled one side across my throat and quietly said "duct tape this to to yourself..."

Hm. I'll have to keep this one short and sweet, only been taking aikido for a couple of weeks now.

I own 1 gi.

Haven't lost it. Yet.

Funny stories? I bet many people have had this happen, but, during a class, my pants fell down during a rather rough kotegaeshi because I didn't tie them tight enough. I think I'm STILL red over that one.

I dry my gi with a hairdryer. Nope, just the dryer works for me.

Gi's are too HOT. Even if the temperature in the dojo is 60 degrees, my gi is hotter than an oven. I'm tempted to wear it around this winter.

gi=dogi; or martial arts workout uniform; or that white pajamas outfit we wear to class

Colleen, thanks for the reassurance. They don't have an XL size so I'm trying the L size to see if it fits. I can fit in large sizes depending on the cut but sometimes I just prefer a bigger and roomier fit. I'm sure I'll like it. I have the women's hakama and I really like it.

I have had similar experiences with my karate gi top in ushiro katatori (rear shoulder grab) in class especially with a dynamic attack, but no one pinned me with it.

I own five gis: three heavy judo gis and two karate gis. I really like the karate gis, they are great during summer. And because they are not as stiff as the judo version the shoulders don't tend to end up at my ears during iaido practice. One point of correction had always been that I had my shoulders too high until we found out that it was the gi
The only problem with my karate gis is that the pants are too long and would show under the hakama. I didn't want to cut them because they are great to be worn at home, so I always wear the judo pants.

My first karate gi had both the arms ripped off it in a particular session (made me look like an australian footballer). I kept the trousers and wore them recently on a course - forgetting that I have grown a little since then. This meant that I couldn't sit in seiza because they were too tight - they split when I attempted to do some kokyu ho! (luckily I wear a hakama now so it wasn't too revealing).

I now have one ju-jitsu gi (which is great cos the arms are elbow length), and one really good quality judo gi which I have had the arms taken up on. However, what I didn't realise is that really good quality (heavy duty) gi's do not shrink - and therefore it is too large for me (especially the trousers). Therefore I only wear this when I want my shoulders to look big and impressive (it is so stiff that when I move the gi just tends to stay in the same place!)

I have the same problem with the shoulders on my gis--the light ones because they are actually the heavy canvas bujin carries, and the heavy (judo) gis. Of course, my shoulders are not very impressive on my own. Not one to point out that an instructor has just said something that makes no sense, that 'your shoulders are too high' comment would make me wonder if they were actually lookingat me, as it would make my arms long enough to reach my knees while standing at attention. Once one of them went to push down those 'raised shoulders' and crushed the empty canvas. I was very tempted to scream 'argh!!!! my arm, my arm' but overcame it.

I own three gi's. One karate gi which I seldom use anymore as it is to small (bought 14 years and twice as many kilos ago). One HEAVY judo-gi which quickly shrunk (sp ?) in the dryer leaving my chest out in the open during practice (aiki-style Tom Jones ?) and finally my new somewhat lighter judo-gi which I am very happy about, allthough it does fit a little bit to tightly around my shoulders.

I used to own a judo-gi died blue for kendo practice but I gave it away when starting Aikido.

I have never lost a gi (yet) but I have mannaged to lose my long white belt on a seminar in Germany which for a while left me with my old short belt. Looked kind of silly with the short ends sticking out.

We used to have a guy in the dojo who had a very small appartment so he dried his gi in the kitchen just above the stove. He loved garlic and he was a smoker and of course there was no ventilation in the kitchen so he was definately NOT my favourite Nage for iriminage.... phew.....

My gi is washed after each training session, except when on camp. During winter I usually put my gi in the dryer for a while and then leave it hanging until it's completely dry. In the summer I try to dry it outside to save the environment, though I must admit I like the softness the dryer can supply.....

By the way: I NEVER wash my gi with fabric softner. It ruins it's ability to soak sweat, it's bad for my allergies and it's virtually impossible to look bad and mean if you smell like 'peaches and spring flowers'

I once left my dojo bag on the train. Lost a good gi, my belt, and towel, and my grade book. No one ever turned anything in to lost and found, even though my name and address were in my grade book, AND my initials were embroidered on the bag. I was more upset about losing my grade book and the bag (just a relatively inexpensive canvas bag, but the perfect size for what I used it for and it was a gift from my brother).

Funny stories? Not me, but a few months ago a visiting shihan from Aikikai Hombu was demonstrating yokomenuchi kato sai during class and promptly tore a huge gaping hole in uke's gi. He immediately stopped, gave the Japanese version of "whoa!", and started laughing. The whole class then lost it. Another time at a seminar during the randori portion of a shodan test, one of the uke's gi jacket got pulled out from under his belt, but he continued to chase nage around with his jacket flying behind him like a cape (can you say "It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's SUPERUKE!").

I dry my gi in the dryer.

The only thing I dislike is wearing new keiko gi that haven't been worn in. Too big and too stiff!

I own two gis I would like to get one more(prederably a lighter one) because the two I own are both thick judo gis
and get rather warm in the summer. I like my gis, once they are broken in they are the most comfortable articles of clothing I where. On cold nights instead of grabing a jacket when I need to go out side I will just grab which ever one of my gis happen to be clean and dry. I dry my gis of a radiator in the winter and on the back deck in the summer. I have yet to lose a gi. As for funny stories I have one I was doing rondori with three senior students one night they were all Shodan and above and I am a little(in the sense of rank) 5th kyu so I attacked the uke with a yoko menuchi strike from which he did Koto gaiesh some how he hat caught the edge of my pants on his for, he ended up falling and I ended up ripping my pants nearly in two, Thank fully I had a pair of shorts with me and copntinued training.

oh I have a question to ask, do/does your gi's get yellow after while? My ten years old one was white b4 then now it has this vintage look on it, i.e. it's yellow. Would you bleach your gi if this happens ?

just thought of a funny story - not about gi's though but about a hakama.

I used to do Kendo and one time at a seminar two shodans were trying to impress the instructor. For some peculiar reason one of the guys got his shinai stuck in the other guys hakama in the hole in the side while charging forward, thereby causing the whole back part of the hakama to be torn off the koshita with a loud ripping sound. This was bad enough but the fact that the other guy never wore a pair of gi-pants underneath his hakama made everything worse. Suddenly he was standing there expoing his tight little undies' to everybody....

How many gis: Okay, I have 5, too. Two from Bujin: one light weight, and one heavy (I prefer the heavier one), and 3 double weave judo gis that I've picked up along the way. And I wash each one after training, hanging them all up to dry wherever I can make space.

I've never lost a gi, though recently my wife and I traveled to our home dojo about 150 miles from here, and arrived to find that she had forgotten her pants. Luckily, someone there had an extra pair that she could borrow.
Sensei did once leave his jo laying in a field at a seminar with Pat Hendricks, and a friend who lived in the area drove back out to the camp the next week and found it for him, a little weathered, but now with more character to it.

And once a few years ago, another fellow and myself decided that the pants would be so much easier with velcro instead of those silly ties (this was before I had a bujin gi). I think we were right, but needed an industrial weight velcro, instead of the normal stuff. The first time we wore them to class, they kept falling down every time we hit the mat. .... Sure am glad the top I had on was rather long.

I own two gis---both judo style. I overheaat in the summer, but they are big enough I can wear long-johns under them in the winter!

I dry mine on the clothes line, after using fabric softner or it's like wearing cardboard!I think the dryer wears on the material, reducing the training life of the gi.

Funny story? Let's see, first month of training, I put my pants on backwards. Didn't notice until my sensei asked if the backs of my knees really needed the extra padding more than the front

I do have a question about sizing---in reference to the Bujin woman's gi---I am 5'9" and 130 pounds, every uwagi I have tried seems to have enough room to wrap around me twice. Are the Bujin styles more "trim" in the width department? Of course, the plus of having the extra material: it never comes loose in training!!
Thanks!
Michell

The Bujin women's gis have a lot less material in the waist/hips. You will never want to wear anything else. As for the dryer, it may actually be the fabric softener that is shortening the life of your gi, and I think Bujin may recommend avoiding it so the special lining lasts longer...but I don't recall exactly, and never use it anyway.

Thanks for the reply. I must have a different kind of gi, as my uwagi has no liner--it is constructed of a single-layer, thick, quilted material. You may be right about the fabric softner----it's just that I live in the mountains and the well-water leaves many clothing items stiff enough to stand on end
I think I will try Bujin, as it is time to order a new gi--I have repaired my frayed collars so many times I feel like I have taken up cross-stitching! Thanks again for the input.
Michell

One of my pairs of trousers has now become a summer gi, the knees have worn so much they are almost ready to become shorts! The last time I practiced in them when I took my hakama off, the bottom part had come off my leg and was dangling behind and inside out.

One of my pairs of trousers has now become a summer gi, the knees have worn so much they are almost ready to become shorts! The last time I practiced in them when I took my hakama off, the bottom part had come off my leg and was dangling behind and inside out.

Time to get a new pair

I have the same problem. If you find a good source for quality drawstring pants, without an accompanying jacket, please post it.

I have the same problem. If you find a good source for quality drawstring pants, without an accompanying jacket, please post it.

Actually my sensei's got the same problem as well (I don't - as I am still a beginner and my pants are not worn out yet). You CAN buy pants alone from several on-line martial arts suppliers, but they usually charge upwards of half the price of a jacket+trousers combo which is kind of expensive.

Lately I have been toying with the idear of sewing some myself. After all white cotton fabric isn't that expensive and it should be possible to figure out the pattern.
However if anybody out there should have a pattern for gi-trousers I would really like to get a copy. Otherwise I guess I just have to cut up an old pair and use it to figure it out.